In Love There Are No Answers
by charliespike18
Summary: Years pass but feelings stay the same for Annie and Alan.


**_A/N The title of this fic comes from the Air Traffic song 'Shooting Star'_**

**_Title: In Love There Are No Answers _**

**_Pairings (Mentioned or otherwise): Annie/Alan _**

**_Rating/Warning: T_**

**_Summary: Years pass but feelings stay the same for Annie and Alan. _**

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_21__st__ of September 2015_

The first drops of rain start to fall as Alan places his glass down on the table – a sigh emerging from his lips. His eyes scan the room and fall on Annie; she's facing away from him, talking to a woman he doesn't recognise. To be honest though, Alan doesn't recognise most of the people in the room and he's only here because Annie asked him. He picks he glass up again and takes a gulp of the alcohol, feeling the need to sigh again. Alan doesn't really want to be here, at David Hornby's month late birthday celebration's – but he's willing to suffer it if it makes Annie feel better. He can still remember the look on her face when she asked him to come – telling him that she would really love a familiar face to be there in the sea of all the strangers.

Annie turns and notices him, their eyes meeting across the room. He nods slightly and she smiles in reply. She silently mouths a 'thank you' and it's Alan's turn to smile, shrugging as he does so. Alan takes another sip of his drink as Annie starts making her way towards him, glancing at the window and seeing the rain, now a torrential down pour, ricocheting off the glass. It's as she gets closer that he sees it – the ring glints of the harsh lights of the room. It takes his breath away, and Annie doesn't even realise. When she reaches him she places a hand on his and thanks him yet again for coming, she doesn't even mention it to start with. But when she does, when she starts talking of how David proposed, Alan isn't even listening – on the outside he is giving the impression that he is but inside, inside he is falling apart, his head swimming with all the missed opportunities that have passed him by. When she finishes talking, a few moments later, Alan has a sad smile on his face – he is thankful, too, when Annie doesn't mention it, his reaction to her news that is.

They stand in silence, intermittently taking sips of their drinks. People come up to them, introducing themselves and Annie, in turn, explains who he is. David appears ten minutes later, asking if Annie wants to come and meet his mother.

Alan makes his exit a few heartbeats later, no one going to miss him, not here. Outside, he sits in his car and rests his head on the steering wheel, just for a minute or so, and then he drives home.

Ten minutes later, having escaped from a never ending chat with her future mother-in-law, Annie stands by the front door, staring at the space that Alan Banks' car should have been sitting in. The blonde takes a deep breath and goes back into the house.

_21__st__ of September 2016_

"Are you going to the wedding boss?" Ken Blackstone asks, spinning backwards on his chair. Alan isn't listening; instead he is filling out paperwork, sheet after sheet, signature after signature. He signs another sheet and stares down at it – seemingly in another world entirely. Ken looks at him and noticing that he hasn't heard him speak at all, repeats his question.

"What?" Alan asks, looking up suddenly, still unaware of what Ken has actually said. He places his pen down and glances across at the other man, a bored look on his face.

"Are you going to the wedding on Saturday?"As he speaks Ken watches Alan; he picks his pen up again and writes something on the pieces of paper on the table.

"Are you?" Alan replies, looking down. Ken can see that he's hit a nerve, so just nods and swings back over to his desk. Alan reads the next piece of paper but soon realises he's not taking any of it in. His mind is on the weekend, on the wedding – on Annie's wedding. It's happening on Saturday, Alan is invited but he's not sure that he's going to go – he has spent the last few weeks thinking of reasons why he wouldn't be able to but so far hasn't come up with anything that would work. But it is Annie's wedding and she is his friend – one of his closest– so he should go, he should be there. But it is Annie and he's not too sure that he'd be able to bare it.

Alan takes a deep breath and stands, exiting his office and leaving through the double doors – coming to a halt on the stairs, looking out the window ahead of him. He stands there for a moment, taking it all in; thinking back to the night he found out that Annie was getting married in the first place, at that stupid party. Alan gets lost in his own little world of memories and barely registers his name being called. It's Helen, Banks realises as he turns, that has spoken – standing at the top of the stairs. She starts towards him before speaking again.

"You alright boss?" Alan nods, his hand still on the banister, as Helen reaches him. She nods too, taking in his words. Alan hesitates but then speaks, his reluctance obvious in his tone.

"Are you going to Annie's wedding?" His words stun her for a second, but she forms an answer quickly.

"Yes, yes I am. Why d'you ask?" Alan starts down the stairs and replies half way down.

"I don't think I'm going to go, that's all Helen." He's not even sure she's heard him, but as he gets to the bottom he hears her speak.

"I think you should boss," At her words, Alan turns back to look at her but she's already gone. When he turns back, Annie is entering the building.

"Annie," He calls across the foyer, causing her to look up. Annie comes over to him, smiling as she does so.

"Alan," She starts, and Alan realises that if he goes to her wedding it might kill him because just standing here, talking to her, is hurting him. "About this case,"

_21__st__ September 2017 _

Annie stares down at her wedding ring, and then up at David. She thanks god that Isla is with her mum and not here – not here to listen to her parents scream and shout the house down. She's not sure how it's come to this, arguments spiralling out of nothing. Annie just said she felt too tired to go out and it had gone from there – one minute he was telling her she was spending too much time at work, the next she was screaming at him that he was a selfish bastard while he accused her of having an affair.

She turns away but he leans forward, grabbing hold of her arm to pull her back. The argument has got out of hand and she can't quite believe it – they've been married less than a year, there anniversary is coming up in less than a week's time – and there already at each other's throat. Sometimes, lying in bed next to him at night, she wonders how she ever thought this would work – a relationship that sprung from an affair, but had decided that they were strong enough to make it work. She's guesses though, now, that she was wrong.

Annie pulls away; storming off in the direction of the door– she's had enough of this for one night. She grabs her car keys off the table as David demands to know where she's planning on going but she doesn't answer, throwing the door open and going over to her car. Annie slips in to the front seat and puts the keys in the ignition, before driving off into the night with no idea of where the hell she is going.

It's raining as she drives and she spends half an hour driving round a deserted Leeds, wondering if she can just go to a bar and drink herself stupid – but then she remembers Isla and decides against it. She drives round in circles, no clue of where she is going to spend the night – she ways up her option, in her mind she has two of them – to go and beg Helen to let her stay there or drive to Alan's house and place herself at his mercy. There are problems with both scenario's – firstly, Helen has four boys in her house, Steven still a few weeks off starting university, and Annie doubts her appearing at Helen's house at 3 o'clock in the morning would go down particularly well. Alan then, but thing's haven't been the same between them for a long time – of course Annie can guess why, but she doesn't like to dwell on it – she is also certain, though, that he isn't likely to leave her in the cold at three o'clock in the morning.

To Alan's house then. When she gets there Annie knocks softly, and then, when he doesn't answer, phones him – he picks up on the fifth ring. She explains the situation, along with her location, and within five minutes she's sitting on his sofa, a glass of scotch in hand.

She spends the night, what's left of it at least, on the same sofa, while Alan sleeps in a chair opposite. When he wakes, she's gone – a thank you note left on the kitchen counter.

_21__st__ September 2018. _

Alan stares out of the window of his office, taking a break from the report he had been writing. The sun beats down, almost like it's still the last days of summer. He glances out of the office – at Ken and Helen typing away on their respective computers. His eyes drift to Annie, placing her possessions in to a box. She's leaving today – moving up to Glasgow for a fresh start with David and Isla and he can't quite get his head around it. To him, right now, it doesn't feel overly real – she has had no leaving party and doesn't plan on having one – Annie wants to just go home and not come back the next day.

Alan knows it will only sink in when he comes in tomorrow and she's not there, sitting at her desk, or when he goes to ask her what she thinks of a case but she doesn't answer. He knows too, that it will hurt like hell because he is going to miss her – he has worked with her for eight years.

She finishes putting her stuff in to the box and picks it up – turning as she does so to look at Alan. They don't have a heart felt goodbye and he doesn't even tell her he's going to miss her. Both know that anything they want to say, right here right now, will just go unsaid because neither can quite bear to except that she's really leaving.

Without a word Annie slips out of the building and about half an hour so does Alan.

When he gets home it's near seven o'clock and he goes straight to the alcohol and puts on his jazz. Alan has to fight hard not to cry – not to be so pathetic, it is all his own fault that it's come to this. He slips his phone out of his pocket and sees he has a text from Tracy telling him that she might come down and see him soon and introduce the much talked about new boyfriend she has.

He puts the phone down on the table as a knock sounds at the door. He goes to open it – expecting Ken or Helen come to ask him how he's holding up but instead Annie stands, hands in pockets. He lets her in without either of them speaking. She sits on his sofa as he turns the music off, dowsing them in silence. He doesn't ask why she's come so they just sit. This is there goodbye – just the two of them.

After five minutes of the quiet they start to talk – about Isla, about Tracy, about anything that isn't the fact she's leaving in the morning. It's like it was before David, before Tracy went missing and Alan laments that of all the days for them to go back to normal it would have to be the last opportunity they have.

They drift into a comfortable silence and she turns to face him, a sad smile on her lips and Alan guesses his face probably mirrors hers. She places a hand on his face and he leans forward, kissing her.

He knows it's a bad idea, she does too – but she still kisses him back. Good people, Alan thinks as Annie slips her shirt off, sometimes do bad things.

He wakes just after five and she's still there – sitting at the bottom of the stairs. He takes the space next to her and they both agree that it was a mistake – though neither quite believes the other.

Six hours later, Annie is on a plane to Scotland her husband next to her.

_21__st__ September 2019 _

Alan looks down at the sleeping infant in his arms and then up to his daughter. A smile is creeping across his face as takes it all in – he is a grandfather and his granddaughter is held in his arms. Her name is Emma and this is the first time he has met her.

She was born just about a month ago and Alan can't believe that he's had to wait this long to see her – he had originally planned to go and see Tracy much sooner but a case, isn't it always a case, came up and he hadn't been able to get away.

Tracy and her fiancée, Jamie, sit on the sofa opposite him – Brian is in the kitchen making them all a cup of tea and Sandra, who Alan hasn't seen in a very long time, sits next to him, cooing over Emma.

Alan can remember holding Tracy for the first time, at a hospital in London, and can't believe how quickly the time has passed since then. He can't believe that his children have grown up so soon.

He looks down at Emma and thinks of the last time he held a baby – It was Isla, all those years ago now. She'd be just about five now – another thing he can't really get his head round. He hasn't seen Annie since she left his house the morning she went to Glasgow – a whole year ago now.

He misses her – more than he thought he would, and he thought he would miss her a lot. When he had turned up for work the next day he had half convinced himself that she would be there but she wasn't, she was gone.

"You alright Dad?" Tracy asks, taking her daughter back. He nods instead of talking, his attention focused on Emma. He's been wrapped up in his musings about Annie for a few minutes now and he guesses that his silence has been noticed by Tracy. Jamie and Sandra have disappeared to the kitchen leaving Alan, Tracy and Emma on their own.

He can hear Brian talking – explaining about his new job to his mum - and it makes him realise how he doesn't really know his son. Alan hasn't seen him in about three years and had only seen him intermittently before then. When he and Sandra had divorced he had promised that he would stay in contact with his children but it had proved harder than he had anticipated. Alan wishes he'd just tried that little bit harder with Brian.

"Are you though Dad, really?" Alan has got used to people asking him if he's alright – after Annie left Helen and Ken questioned him on a regular basis – but the answer is always the same though, he's fine. He tells Tracy this but she gives him a unconvinced look, Tracy is the only member of his family who knows about Annie – about the fact she know lives in Scotland – and Alan has noticed that she has become slightly more concerned about since she found out.

It's been a year though – he should be over it.

"I'm fine, really Tracy" He doesn't even convince himself.

_21__st__ September 2020_

The sun hangs high in a cloudless sky, perfect weather for a wedding some may say. Helen scans the marquee for Alan and finds him, standing by the buffet table. A champagne glass in her hand, she makes her way over to him.

Helen feels slightly uncomfortable in her dress but she's happy enough – it is Steven's wedding after all. When she gets to Alan she can see that he's talking to Ben, another one of her sons. They seem happy enough. Helen asked Alan to come for two reasons– firstly so that she had someone to talk to that wasn't one of her sons and secondly to give Alan something to do, Helen having noticed that her boss had been spending more and more time at work.

Behind her Steven and his new wife Jenny are chatting to Michael and for a moment Helen is reminded of her own wedding – years and years ago now. Her marriage though, ended in a way she prays Steven's won't. She walked out – she'll admit that, but she had her reasons, reasons she's not sure any of her boys really ever accepted.

Alan hasn't been to a wedding since, well since Annie's. Brian had got married on the sly without either of his parents there 6 months previously and Tracy's wedding is slated for Christmas. Annie's wedding, in contrast to Steven Morton's, had been a rainy day in September and Alan wishes, still to this day, that he hadn't gone. He dreams about it, about her in the dress, saying things he will never forget. He dreams too, about the night she left, and about all the things he should've said to make her stay.

Alan looks up and across the room, he notices Helen making her way towards him. He smiles, actually quite happy that she asked him to come as her plus one – in a friend sense only – because he hasn't been out in a long time, not somewhere like this. Alan has spend all his time either working or babysitting for Tracy and Jamie – which he doesn't particularly mind, in fact Alan loves spending time with Emma when he can, but he knows better than most that a one year old baby isn't exactly a good conversation starter.

Helen comes up behind her son; tapping him on the back and making him turn to face her. Ben smiles, letting his mother in to the conversation; he's been talking to Alan about the fact he's just joined the police – she knows Michael has tried to discourage him but Helen is proud of him. Alan has been giving him tips, help on how get good.

Later, Helen and Alan watch the sun set, they have a long conversation about their respective lives are going. Helen admits, candidly, that she gets lonely but that her kids are keeping her sane. Alan consoles her with the fact that when the grandkids start coming, it will get better. Then she asks him how he is. He doesn't reply, not to start with, but when he does it's not the usual "I'm fine," Its "I miss her," of course Helen knows who he's talking about.

_21__st__ September 2021 _

It's like that night, she thinks looking across at David – just like that night. Except this time she's not sure there coming back from it. She's sitting on their bed, he's standing by the door – she can tell by his face that he's angry, really truly angry. Annie knows, though, that it's her fault that it's come to this.

Neither of them has spoken for a good few minutes but she knows that David is still irate and that it's not going to go away, not this time. She turns slightly and looks through the gap in the curtain down to the street, the orange glow of the street lights illuminating the road. She forces herself to concentrate on the autumn leaves that litter the pavement instead of the situation she is in currently.

He'd been looking for a pair of socks when he'd found them, hidden in the corner of the chest of draws. Cards, birthday ones, all addressed to Annie, all scattered on the floor now. They're from Alan, all of them – she'd put them in the draw because every time she looked at them she was wracked with guilt. The guilt of what she had done, the fact she had slept with Alan.

David had just been curious, had wanted to know why the cards where in the draw. He wasn't to know the reason, the truth behind them. It was the questions that made it all sink it for Annie – David's need to know that made her tell him. She'd kept it secret long enough, three years, and she's had enough.

She closes her eyes and then forces herself to look up at him. The argument has been fierce, intense and Annie preys that Isla hasn't woken, Owen too. Her son sleeps just up the corridor, Isla next door, but neither, she thinks, are awake.

This is it, she decides - her marriage is over.

For some reason, Annie feels relived.

_21__st__ September 2022_

He's sitting in his office when Helen appears, knocking on his door. It frustrates him – Alan doesn't really need another distraction, he has to fill out at lot of paper work before he leaves and every pause from his work will mean it will get later and later. Alan can't have that, not today, he's promised Tracy that he'll pick Emma up from nursery at 3:15 while Tracy goes to see Sandra – whose recently been admitted to hospital after being in a car crash.

He only looks up when Helen speaks. "Boss, it's the chief super," she tells him but her voice is on edge and Alan can't tell why. He also doesn't know why Ron McLaughlin is coming to see him, but he guesses that it's just to see how everything's going.

"What about him?" But as he speaks he sees Ron, walking across the room, Annie Cabbot behind him. Alan stands immediately, waiting for someone to explain the presence of the blonde. When they reach his office, Ron shuts the door but Alan remain standing. Annie leans against the sideboard, her eyes looking anywhere but at Alan.

"Annie," he says, waiting for Ron to tell him what the hell is going on.

"She's moved back to area, Alan, she's back." Ron says, before Annie does.

"I'm a DI now. I also have been briefed on the current case. I'm ready," She barely looks at him the whole time she speaks. Ron nods and noticing the tension in the room, leaves. Neither speak, just taking it all in. Alan stares at her, and he notices that her wedding ring is gone. He closes his eyes before speaking.

"You got divorced." She nods in reply, her eyes still on the floor. "How's Isla?" he adds a moment later.

"She's good, yeah, settling in well down here." She finally looks up and their eyes meet and he sees that she's close to tears.

"Annie?" he asks, taking a step closer. She waves him away, her eyes dropping to the ground again, but he takes another step regardless.

"I'm fine, Alan," she says, before turning and leaving the room. Alan knows better than anything that 'I'm fine' rarely means 'I'm actually fine' – he's spent the last few years telling people he fine when he really hadn't been. Alan looks down at his watch – he's got ten minutes to pick up Emma.

When he gets there is already a group of parents standing outside, many with older children with them. He stands, on the edge of the gathering, until there allowed in. He finds Emma quickly; she's sitting on a small plastic chair on the other side of the room. He crouches down and she starts tells him what they did during the day.

When he turns to go a little girl, no older than 10, nearly runs into him, he hears someone call her name and it makes his blood run cold.

"Isla," It's David Hornby. Alan looks up at him and then back down at Emma. But before he knows it, he's being shoved against the wall – and punch hits him a moment later. The younger man looks down him and Alan can see the anger in his eyes.

"That," David starts, loud, so everyone can hear. "Is for sleeping with my wife." But Alan's eyes aren't on him, there on the little boy standing behind him, next to Isla, saying 'Daddy'. Alan knows that if the boy is in Emma's class then he is three, and Alan is a police officer – he knows what it means.

_21__st__ September 2023 _

Alan Banks looks over at the curtain, watching the stream of light filter in through the cracks. He has one eye on the clock – which is displaying 6:57 am – he's waiting for the alarm to go off. It will be in three minutes, at 7 am, and Alan is savouring the little time he has left. He closes his eyes and rests his head on the pillow, taking a deep breath as he does so.

The three minutes are up quickly and soon a loud beeping is invading the quiet of the bedroom. Alan rolls out of bed, stretching his shoulders and half turning round to look at Annie. The blonde still has her head firmly on her pillow, but he knows she's awake because she's staring up at him – the look of someone who really doesn't want to get up painted on to her face. He almost laughs, but doesn't, instead he turns around and starts getting dressed.

A lot has changed in Alan's life in the last year and things haven't gone the way he expected them to at all. He has a son; he and Annie have a son. He hadn't expected that.

Owen is four and has just started school. When he had first worked it out, Alan had gone straight to Annie and asked her – begged really – to tell him if it could be true, if Owen could be his son. She had been reluctant at first and Alan had got angry – he had shouted and she had shouted back. Alan couldn't take it in, the fact that Annie might've had his child and just not told him – he had though that Annie, of all people, couldn't hurt him like that.

But she had.

Their argument had taken place in his office at the station and after, after they had shouted and shouted, Alan had realised that glass is not particularly sound proof. Both had shouted loud enough for the whole floor to hear, and neither had said thing they hadn't particularly wanted anyone else to know. Alan knows that he said things, then, that he shouldn't've – things about how David had been married when she had had Isla, about the fact she wasn't sure who Owen's father actually was, things about how he couldn't believe her – that he couldn't believe that she could do such a cold, heartless thing.

Annie throws the duvet back and turns to sit on the edge of the bed as Alan comes past and stands by the door. She dresses and then together they descend the stairs. She sits on the sofa with a bowl of cereal while he butters a piece of toast. They don't talk, not really, and Annie keeps checking her phone.

Owen is currently with Isla at David's house, having spent the night there. Annie had seen the way Isla had missed her brother so she and David had come to an agreement that Owen could spend one night a week with Isla. They played imaginary games most of the time but sometimes just enjoyed being with each other. It made Annie happy, to see her children happy together.

Alan places the knife in the sink and turns round to face the blonde, picking up his toast as he does so. He looks at her and he can't quite believe it's come to this – silence when they should be talking, when they should be happy at being in each other's company. It's been like this for a while now, she turns up at his house, when Owen has gone to stay with David, and they fall in to bed with each other. Alan likes to think it's no string attached but if he's being honest the strings are definitely attached and are likely to break at any minute.

He can still remember the day they got the results of the paternity test he had insisted they have – so he could be sure he was actually Owen's father. Alan thinks he will always be able to see the piece of paper in his minds eyes, confirming what Annie had already told him. He thinks too, that he won't forget the look on her face, of complete heartbreak, when he had told her that all he wanted was relationship with Owen because he could never ever trust her again, not ever, not like he had before.

Except, she was still Annie, and it turned out, Alan was still in love with her. He was almost angry about it; he hated her for making him love her when she had hurt him. It was how, still after years, she knew how he liked his coffee or knew how he wanted his case organised or in the way they just fitted back together in the interview room. He hadn't wanted any of this, but he had it none the less.

Annie looks up and him as she places her bowl on the draining board and she smiles because she loves it here, being here with him, but she knows it won't last. No, not really, they'll either fall apart quiet spectacularly or stop the secrecy and get together. She already thinks Helen knows, it's just in the way the brunette looks at them – but Annie doesn't think anyone else does.

There a mess, a complete and utter mess and it's all her fault. Neither of them are happy, not like this, not stealing moments together while pretending to everyone else in the world that it's not happening.

She stands, picking up her bag from the side and leans over to Alan, kissing him like it'll be the last time. They break apart a few moments later and together they leave the house. Both climb into different cars before making the journey down to the station.

They both know something has to change, and both know that it probably won't.

_21__st__ September 2024_

"You still love her?" Tracy remarks, her eyes on her father. He looks away to avoid answering the question, of course they're talking about Annie, about their relationship. Even though both of them had known something had to change, neither had done anything – so he and Annie had stayed in their no strings relationship which, in fact, had a lot of strings.

He is currently standing in his garden, Tracy by him. He's having a BBQ and people are littered around the grass. Alan glances round, noticing Helen having a nice chat to Tracy's husband Jamie and Brian, playing football with Owen and Emma. Helen's son Ben and his 11 month old son, Toby, stand with Ken in the corner.

Alan takes a deep breath and focuses his attention back on his daughter. He smiles slightly at her, six months pregnant, holding a glass of water. But he doesn't want to answer the question, he doesn't want to admit that he is in love with Annie, because to voice it out loud would make it real and he's not sure he's ready for that step.

Behind him he hears Annie, talking to Brian's wife Emily, their talking about Eva – Emily and Brian's three month old daughter while Isla sits next to them, colouring in a picture of the countryside. His whole family is here, save Sandra but she isn't really Alan's family anymore and hasn't been for a long time.

"What if I said yes?" he inquires, interested in why Tracy has posed the question. Alan takes a gulp of the beer that is in his hand and stares at his daughter. She stares back in kind before replying.

"I was just wondering," she says almost absentmindedly. Tracy doesn't know about his and Annie's relationship, in fact Helen is the only one who does. He hadn't made a choice to tell her but when she had turned up at his house at twenty to six in the morning with a new case he had struggled to find an excuse for Annie's presence so had ended up confiding in her.

It's not that he doesn't think for a moment that nobody else suspects anything – it's just Helen is the only one who actually has been told. He's worried about Brian's reaction to it – seeing that when he had found out about his little brother he had advised Alan to stay well away from the bitch who didn't tell him she'd had his child for three years. He's not worried about Tracy as much, the brunette having been much more mature about the situation – Alan puts that down to having actually met Annie before the Owen stuff had kicked off.

He takes another sip of the alcohol and is about to speak when he feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns round to see Annie, Owen standing by her.

"I'm tired Daddy," he says and Alan and Annie share a look. He picks his son up and turns to face Tracy, and the three of them decide that it's time to put the kids to bed. Brian, Tracy, their respective partners and Annie are staying over. Helen and Ken, along with Ben and Toby disappear after goodbyes about ten minutes later.

Alan hadn't realises that having 8 extra people in his house would take so much organising, though in hindsight he's not quite sure why he had though that. Alan has three spare rooms – Tracy, Emma and Jamie take one, while Isla and Owen share with Annie in for supervision and Alan takes the last guest room. Brian, Emily and little Eva are in his room as it is the biggest.

Owen lies in his bed, his duvet pulled up to his neck, Alan says goodnight but Isla on the other hand, is already asleep – that girl, he thinks, could sleep anywhere.

Annie and Alan emerge from the room; all the other adults are their respective rooms and Annie and Alan descend the stairs in silence. He opens the back door and Alan walks over to the crest of the hill, which is about 50 metres away. They sit down, watching the sun fall through the cloudless sky and talk – about everything, about Owen, Isla, about David and crucially, about their relationship.

Tracy, up in her bedroom, glances out the window as she shuts the curtains and sees her father and Annie sitting on the hill. The blonde's head rests on his shoulder and Tracy smiles as she pulls the curtains to.

Back down on the hill, Annie lifts her head to look at Alan. His eyes are on the sunset but he looks across at her as she speaks.

"Do you remember what you said after Tracy was kidnapped?" Alan is stunned by the leap back in time, but nods almost immediately – how could he forget – and Annie continues speaking. "You told me you needed more time, to think about things," Again Alan nods. "Was ten years enough?"

"Yes," he says and kisses her. "Yes," He pauses, looking up at the house and then back down at her. "I love you,"

"I love you too Alan,"

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**A/N Please review if you have the time. :)**


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